#no 2

whumptober24 day 2- trust issues tw- none summary- family vacations are the worst

ao3 masterlist part 11 of DLM

Danny wasn’t sure what to think. Jason had said he could trust the other bats, he had even grudgingly admitted that they were family. But Danny knew that family didn’t always mean acceptance.

The rest of the bats didn’t even know Jason was liminal! They knew he’d been resurrected, but what if knowing he was still connected to death made them change their mind? What if they rejected Jason? It would be all Danny’s fault. And even if they accepted Jason, they might not accept Danny who was more than just a little liminal.

No. 2: “You’ve got a lot of nerve to dredge up all my fears.”

Prophecy | Sewer | Taking Accountability

CW: Minor Whump , manipulation

The General stared down at the trio in front of him and really took the time to look at them. Sometimes he forgot that as much as they were soldiers, they were also children. It didn’t matter how much he wanted them to be mature and do their jobs, they were young, bound to make mistakes. They were also bound to make bad decisions. Bad decisions like fighting with the other squadrons, other children. “So, who is going to tell me what happened?” Benjamin had his arms crossed over his chest, leaning back in the chair, his leg was bouncing. The grey of his uniform shirt was stained with small splatters of blood. His knuckles were split open, Zachary could see it, despite the fact that he was trying to hide it. Benjamin’s expression was almost smug, despite the busted lip and black eye. Isobele’s hair was a mess, her face had been scratched with three lines across her cheek. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair and coughed into her hand. There were bruises on her arms as well. Her expression was neutral and she shrugged at him. Zachary sighed and his eyes finally landed on the youngest, Jeremiah. He was small for his age, he looked about seven when he was really ten years old. He was torn up the worst of the three. He was bleeding from his temple and was littered with bruises. His uniform was dirty and looked like it’d been ripped in some places. The kid was sniffling and he was holding his wrist to his chest. There was a picture painted here of what happened. Someone was probably picking on Jeremiah. Benjamin had always been fiercely protective of people in his own squad. It was easy to see that this was in defense of his squad mate and someone he considered a younger brother. But it could have been done smarter, Ben always let his emotions get the best of him. Isobele probably joined in later, when she thought that Ben was in danger. It was an easy story that wrote itself, but he needed them to admit it. “No one? Really?” asked Zachary. “Jeremiah?” Jeremiah averted his gaze to his lap and continued to sniffle, shrugging. God he hated that habit. Ben had started it from a young age and it rubbed off on the other two. Zachary needed to put a stop to that. Later, these were all things he could focus on later. “Do not make me force you all to tell me,” Zachary warned, pushing himself off of leaning against his desk. “Please,” he said, softer this time, “I just want the truth. The other boys claimed that you all started it, though I have my doubts.” Jeremiah glanced at Ben and Isobele and finally, after another minute of silence, Isobele sighed, uncrossing her legs. “They were beating on Jeremiah, trying to drag him to the bathrooms, Ben jumped in. Then I jumped in, and everyone was fighting. It was their fault, they messed up Jeremiah really bad,” Isobele recounted. Zachary knew she’d be the one to answer. Honestly, he was surprised she took this long to answer in the first place. Ben uncrossed his arms and looked at Jeremiah, “Can we take him to the infirmary now? I think they broke his wrist.” “Not yet,” Zachary said, pinching the bridge of his nose, “if you three are going to get into fights, you need to be smarter. You three are some of the strongest on base, you shouldn’t be letting yourself get pushed around in the first place.” “Well that’s why I fucked those guys up. It was Victor and his squad, they’re fuckin-” “Language Benjamin,” Zachary chided. “Yeah whatever, sorry. I mean, I jumped in because they were picking on Jem. They were hurting him really bad and I don’t even know what he did. I think it’s just cause he’s young and small and with the power dampeners he’s not much of a threat. If you would just take them off–” Zachary put a hand up to stop him from talking and Benjamin’s mouth clamped shut. They'd address the lack of respect later too. There was only one thing he needed to focus on at the moment.

“Then Jeremiah needs some extra training sessions with Sergeant Wilder. I’ll set that up.” Zachary glanced at Jeremiah who was still looking at his lap, “I’m not mad about you defending him Benjamin.” “What are you mad about then?” asked Isobele with a scowl, “You said that we should protect each other like family, so what’s the big deal?” “I think you know exactly what I’m disappointed about. Especially you Ben.” Benjamin growled in frustration and his foot tapped faster on the ground. Whether it was nervous energy or out of anger was hard to tell. “Tell me,” Zachary prompted, “tell me what I’m angry with Benjamin.” The boy huffed and took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax, “Did I kill Victor?” “Nearly, but no. A few more punches and I’m sure you would have, and Isobele caused some damage too. I’ll say that choking someone so hard you bruise their trachea is impressive for someone your size.” Isobele straightened a little at the compliment and nodded at him, “Thank you General.” “Don’t thank me. Tell me why I’m upset.” “We,” Isobele paused, he assumed to find the right words, “we lied?” “Is that a question or an answer?” Ben chimed in, “The guards were going to send us all to solitary!” “And I would have gotten you out. You can’t lie to the guards just because you don’t want to be punished. I expected better.” The three of them stayed silent, all of them looking at their shoes. Jeremiah’s expression was blank and Zachary made his way toward him, taking a knee in front of him. Gently he cradled the boy's face with his hand and made him look him in the eye. “You’re okay, you’re safe. I need you to come back now. Can you do that?” Jeremiah’s eyes focused and he nodded. Zachary switched his gaze to Ben and Isobele but kept his hand on Jeremiah’s face. “There we go. Now listen, the three of you messed up. You lied to get out of trouble.” “I mean technically we didn’t lie-” Ben started and Zachary shot him a look. “You didn’t, but you didn't own up to what you did either. If you’re going to almost kill someone, at least take accountability for it.” “Yes, sir,” Ben relented, looking dejected. “After you take Jeremiah to the infirmary, your ration cards are half and you’re not allowed to leave your pod unless it's for meals and training. If I find out you disobeyed this. You will go to The Pit after a whipping. Do you understand?” 

“Yes sir,” said Ben and Isobele together. Zachary looked into Jeremiah’s eyes and gave him an expectant look. “Yes sir..” the boy whispered. They would work on that later too. “Go on to the infirmary. Then straight to your pod. No dinner tonight.” There were no words when they all got up to leave. It had taken them almost two years to finally start bonding like family, to start working together like this. The fact that they defended each other, it was a good sign. Zachary smiled to himself. Yes, this was going to be the strongest squad he ever raised. 

Only tamers searching for ghost Nexomon stay when they spot a Muu. Its surrounded by a heavy atmosphere and some say that darkness follows it.